Stock Market & Financial Investment News

Ukraine, U.S. jobs dominate headlines as markets log gainsStocks on Wall Street were higher in a week that saw instability in Ukraine dominate headlines early, with a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report finishing the week. MACRO NEWS: Global markets started the week lower on concerns regarding the situation in Ukraine, and while the flow of news coming out of the region did not slow during the week, it appeared to weigh less prominently on investors as the week wore on... On Monday, China's final Markit/HSBC manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index for February fell for the third straight month to a seven-month low of 48.5... The U.S. non-farm jobs report for February showed the economy added 175,000 jobs, exceeding economists' expectations for 150,000. Despite the better-than-expected job gains, the unemployment rate edged higher to 6.7% from last month's 6.6% level... The Federal Reserve released its latest Beige Book report of economic activity on Wednesday, which showed that economic activity in eight of the central bank's twelve districts saw modest to moderate improvements since the last survey. The report showed, however, that the severe winter weather has weighed on retail sales. COMPANY NEWS: Auto sales fell for major US and Japanese brands, including Ford, which saw sales slide 6% and Toyota (TM), which saw sales slide 4% for February... Legacy big box retailers RadioShack (RSH) and Staples (SPLS) both reported earnings this week that disappointed and announced plans to close stores. RadioShack announced it would close 1,100 stores and said it is not considering a pre-packaged bankruptcy, while Staples said it would close 225 stores in North America and said it will no longer provide annual sales or earnings guidance. Shares of both retailers fell more than 15% during the week... Safeway (SWY) announced a deal Thursday night to be acquired by Albertsons, which is owned by private-equity firm Cerberus Capital, in a deal that values the grocer at about $40 per share. Shares of Safeway lost about 2% after the deal, which had been roundly telegraphed in recent media reports, was formally announced. Shares of Safeway, however, have gained about 60% over the 52-week period ended with today's trade. INDEXES: The Dow was up 0.8% to 16,452.72, the S&P 500 was up 1% to 1,878.04, and the Nasdaq was up 0.6% to 4,336.22.

Toyota launches new vehicles, automated safety featuresToyota will reveal its first-ever RAV4 Hybrid SUV, while Lexus unveils its all-new fourth-generation RX luxury crossover SUV, Toyota stated earlier today. Both debuts will mark the arrival of new, multi-feature, integrated safety packages, each anchored by automated pre-collision braking and offered at a price dramatically below comparable systems across the auto industry, the automaker stated. Toyota Safety Sense and Lexus Safety System+ are designed to support the driverís awareness, decision making and vehicle operation over a wide range of speeds, Toyota stated. Packaged together in an integrated system, their features help address three key areas of accident protection: preventing or mitigating rear collisions, keeping drivers within their lane, and enhancing road safety during night time driving, according t othe company.

Ford volatility at low end of historic rangeFord April weekly call option implied volatility is at 21, April is at 19, May is at 20, June is at 19; compared to its 26-week average of 24 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Ford, GM considering asking for lower-paid workers, Bloomberg saysFord (F) and General Motors (GM) are considering asking the United Auto Workers union to create a lower-pay tier of employee at U.S. auto factories, reports Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. The union, on the other hand, is considering eliminating the existing tier structure altogether, according to a person familiar with the union leadership. The proposed lower tier worker would not assemble cars, said the sources. Reference Link

Toyota to partner with I.D. Systems on new VMSToyota (TM) Material Handling, U.S.A., and I.D. Systems (IDSY) have executed a strategic partnership agreement to develop and deploy a new wireless industrial Vehicle Management System, or VMS. The new VMS will be marketed through the Toyota Industrial Equipment umbrella in North America under the "T-Matics" brand. The T-Matics products were officially launched to Toyota dealers on March 3.

Staples upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBSUBS upgraded Staples (SPLS) to Buy based on favorable risk/reward and potential synergies and earnings growth from the Office Depot (ODP) acquisition. Price target raised to $20 from $18.

Stifel says evidence supports Apple moving into electric vehiclesAnalysts at Stifel say they see enough evidence to suggest that Apple is internally working on the development of a battery electric vehicle to be sold over the next five-to-ten years. The analysts are "intrigued" by Apple CFO Luca Maestri's background at General Motors (GM). They believe Apple's investments in manufacturing should be a key consideration for investors and point out the $40B spent by the iPhone maker over the past five years, with 80%-plus invested in manufacturing, is similar to GM, Ford (F) and Daimler-Benz and well above Tesla's $1.8B cumulative capex. The analysts say there is a "lot to think about" regarding Apple's move into the car space, including the regulatory environment. They keep a Buy rating on the tech giant with a $150 price target. Shares of Apple closed yesterday down 97c to $127.50.

MSFT announced several partnerships with industry leadersAt Microsoft Convergence 2015, Microsoft (MSFT) announced several new partnerships with industry leaders. Teaming up with Microsoft, Ford Motor (F) will expand connected services for customers around the world with the creation of the Ford Service Delivery Network. Microsoft also announced several partnerships and collaboration agreements with leading companies in sales, field service, digital transaction management and analytics markets. Microsoft and InsideSales.com will offer its complete sales acceleration platform. Microsoft and FieldOne Systems announced their agreement to bring the FieldOne Sky field service management solution into the Microsoft Dynamics global independent software vendor program. DocuSign and Microsoft announced that the two companies will bring DocuSign's Digital Transaction Management platform to Microsoft Dynamics CRM users. Microsoft also announced the acquisition of intellectual property from Fusion Software which will add Voice of the Customer capabilities to Microsoft Dynamics.

Toyota to offer biggest pay increase for workers in 13 years, WSJ reportsToyota will raise wages for its workers by the most in 13 years, The Wall Street Journal reports. According to a source, the automaker will raise the monthly pay for a unionized worker in Japan by about 3.2% on average beginning in April; workers will be offered a Y4,000 raise in monthly base pay and a Y7,300 raise in seniority pay, the source adds. Reference Link